What were the first organisms to have sex? We may never know the answer, but as Bill Nye explains in this Big Think interview, scientists are very interested in why sexual activity remains so popular in nature...

As for Eyjafjallajökull, the eruption is continuing on with impressive strombolian explosions (see above) in the main vent area and the continued, slow progress of the lava flow down the flank of the volcano. Dr. Joe Licciardi sent me a few more pictures where the two plumes - one mostly steam from the lava flow melting ice, one mostly ash from the active vent - can be plainly seen (see top and thermal image below). The ash production from the volcano has tapered over the weekend, but the plume is nevertheless still impressive (see at the bottom), reaching 4-6 km (14,000-20,000 feet) in height. The Icelandic Met Office says that the eruptive rate has been decreasing over the past week as the volcano has deflated, but the eruption have become spasmodic with burst of increased activity. However, none of this suggests that the eruption is anywhere close to an end.

FLIR thermal image of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption on May 10, 2010.

The BBC has jumped onto the "Katla-mongering" bandwagon today as well, with a new article that offers nothing new to anyone who has been following the eruption - more or less, there is an interesting and unproven connection between the two volcano's eruptive activity. What bugs me about this article is in the first paragraph, the writer chose to say "some reports suggest that another, much larger, volcano could stir in the near future." (my emphasis). To me, this implies we have evidence right now that something is going on at Katla. The article, however, merely talks about what geologists are suggesting might happen. It is word choice like this (that I, too, fall prey to) that is very important when talking about volcanic hazards.